Presenter：Aristo Sham
Focusing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
Good morning, thanks for having this morning. At Orbis, we have a simple belief: protecting vision isn’t just a medical issue; it’s a community responsibility. Every one of us has a part to play in helping others keep sight safe. Today, I’d like to tell you a story - the story of Hong Kong’s aging eyes, and why half of our population may soon face serious vision challenges.
When you think of Hong Kong, what comes to mind? Neon lights, the serene views, the dense forest of skyscrapers. We are a city that sees the world in colour and in movement. But behind that beauty, a silent crisis has been developing among our older population.
In late 2025, Orbis collaborated with the Department of Ophthalmology at HKUMed to release results from the largest community glaucoma-screening project ever done in Hong Kong. The results were a wake-up call, not just for everyone over 50, but for everyone who loves someone over 50.
As we age, our bodies begin to change - gently, and gradually. But within our eyes, something more dangerous starts to happen: the risk of vision-threatening diseases rises sharply after 50.
The three biggest culprits here in Hong Kong are: cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Cataracts are like looking through a frosted dirty window. The world turns cloudy and dim. Thankfully, surgery can restore clear sight.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) attacks your central vision. It’s what you use to read, drive, or recognize a loved one’s face. It may not cause total blindness, but it steals your quality of life.
And then, there’s glaucoma, the silent thief of sight. It creeps in slowly, quietly damaging the optic nerve - the delicate cable that connects the eye to the brain. There’s no pain. No early symptoms. You don’t even know it’s happening… until a quarter of your vision is already gone.
Once those nerve fibers die, they’re gone forever. We can’t bring them back. All we can do is stop more from dying, curb it from getting worse, stop one from becoming blind. For years, we suspected glaucoma was widespread in Hong Kong. But we didn’t know how widespread or common it was - until now.
Over two years, Orbis and HKUMed conducted a project we called Vision Matters. We went into public housing estates, from Southern District, Kwun Tong and Taipo etc, inviting residents aged 50 and above for free, comprehensive eye exams. More than 5,800 people across our city took part.
The results were staggering. We found optic-nerve degeneration in 11.6 percent of participants, and confirmed glaucoma in 6.9 percent of them. For context, that’s higher than previous estimates across the entire Chinese population.
So, what’s going on? Is Hong Kong somehow “sicker”? Not necessarily. In truth, the difference lies in the technology. We were only able to identify these occurrences because of the technology we used. Our study used an AI-powered tool called ROTA to identify at-risk patients. Now, a traditional scan can tell you if your optic nerve - imagine a rope - is getting thinner. But ROTA goes deeper. It shows whether the threads within that rope are beginning to fray. This means it can catch glaucoma damage far earlier, often before patients notice a single symptom.
Currently, if referred to a specialist out-patient clinic, the wait time can be as long as 117 weeks. That is over two years. For glaucoma, two years of waiting means two years of irreversible vision damage.
Here’s how AI integration changes a lot of everything. Because when a doctor spots even the smallest hint of trouble, AI can help flag high-risk patients faster, triage them sooner, push them to the front of the list and make sure they see a specialist in time.
It won’t erase the two-year waiting list overnight, but it could save sight before it’s too late.
Our AI-powered diagnostic system will soon be deployed in Hong Kong West and Kowloon East clusters. And that’s what Orbis does best: bridging innovation and humanity. Around the world, our team ensures that innovation travels faster than distance. The fight against blindness is no longer just about scalpels and predictions. It’s about data and predictions. It’s about catching the thief before it steals your sight.
Through Cybersight AI, a groundbreaking Orbis diagnostic platform, specialist-level eye screening can be “air-dropped” into even the most remote villages. Imagine this: a local nurse in a rural community takes a photo of a patient’s retina. Within seconds, the AI detects early signs of blinding diseases and alerts doctors miles away. That speed and that precision can be the difference between permanent vision loss and a lifetime of sight.
But here’s the truth: technology alone isn’t the hero.
People are. AI is just a tool - one that amplifies the reach of doctors and empowers local health workers. It filters out routine cases, so specialists can focus on the most urgent, life-changing ones.
Yet, even the smartest technology can’t succeed without trust. In Ethiopia, for example, Orbis trains local women as community eye-care workers - women their neighbours already know and trust. In Vietnam, we adapt our workflow to match local customs and patient habits, because technology must fit people, not the other way around.
And through every project, from Hong Kong’s urban neighbourhoods to the world’s most remote corners, one message shines through:
Technology guards vision; trust connects communities.
Together, they build a bridge - from innovation to impact, from city to village, from research to real lives. And that bridge is how Orbis makes sure no one, anywhere in the world, is left in the dark.
We live in a city of dazzling lights. Let's make sure we can all see them, clearly and safely, for years to come.
Presenter：Aristo Sham
The overwhelming response to my win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition from Hong Kong, practically immediately, could not have been in anyone’s imagination; requests for interviews came in while I was strutting up the stairs up towards the stage. I cannot think of another society in the world where the response would be anywhere close, or in such a dignified manner. This is such a gift, and a gratifying reminder of the fortune of being from Hong Kong; the ability to share in the joy and celebration of the achievement of one of our own – this should really be a source of pride for all of us – an illustration of some of the great qualities we can share as a society, and a great example of the values we can seek to attain in our outlook as a society.
I was born in Hong Kong and started learning piano at the age of 3; my mother taught piano at home, and as a toddler I showed great curiosity towards the instrument, almost like a toy, so at age 3 my mother finally gave in and decided to let me try having lessons. My mother noticed that I picked up musical concepts and ideas quicker than usual, and so at the age of 6 she thought I should audition at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, to which I was accepted, and there began the next phase of my musical life.
I was living and studying in Hong Kong until the age of 14, and in this period, I enjoyed successes in several international competitions, leading to gaining the moniker “prodigy”, for which I never had particularly strong feelings, and most definitely not how I would describe myself. As I am characteristically restless and curious, I have always craved new experiences and new sensations, leading me to want to discover a new way of life and a different culture in the UK at the age of 14, followed by the US at the age of 19. Since I was swept by the currents of life and never actively decided to pursue music as a child, during my teenage years I was adamant about leading a balanced and varied life – I went to a normal academic high school, and entered the dual-degree programme at Harvard and New England Conservatory. It was not until when I was 21 years old, when I decided to fully dedicate myself to music.
Just as I believe in an all-rounded education and the understanding of as much as possible of the world around us, I have enjoyed a broad education in piano and in music, as my teachers come from many different traditions (French, Viennese, German, Russian etc.), with different perspectives on building musical language and technique. The knowledge of all these aspects allows me to choose and combine, often subconsciously, the avenue of expression that best suits every piece and every moment in performance.
I think, and hope, my signature as an artist lies in my breadth of experiences and knowledge about the various aspects of the world and of life; at Harvard my degree was nominally in economics – it was more liberal arts, as I took courses in all sorts of disciplines, including history, languages, politics, sciences, arts, to name a few. As I decided to pursue a career in music, my interests and curiosities remain panoramic – I constantly travel to new destinations, study new languages, learn about different cultures, read texts on different subjects.
With languages and travel, I seek to understand different cultures and the logic embedded within – the way of thinking in each culture, or locale, is always different, and there is always a pathway by which we can learn from, why a certain idea leads to the next. This is striking in its similarity to the consequential nature of logic and communication in music, which is equally rich and varied. As a Hongkonger, I cannot not be also incredibly inspired by experiences in food and wine; just as we create unique and memorable experiences in music, there is a lot of artistic expression in food and wine that push the boundaries of what intensity and finesse we can feel.
I credit the cultural breadth that I enjoyed during my formative years in Hong Kong, for the foundation of my holistic and curious self throughout life. In the same vein, I always carry a piece of Hong Kong with me – the uncanny ability to learn and adjust to all sorts of environments and situations; the capacity to absorb stimuli attacking us from all directions and make something of it, hopefully better; and of course, the relentless drive for perfectionism in all that we do. In the end, since music and all art is a reflection of life and of the world in its essence, I believe my interest and understanding in different areas allows me to better express and connect with audiences around the world.
I love life in all its flavours; perhaps not in the moment, but I hold a dear appreciation to everything that I have ever learnt, delved into, or brushed past. Joy, sadness, agony, frustration, exaltation – they are all teachers that make life fulfilling and the experience of life richer.
Hongkongers can be terribly goal and results-oriented, often to the point where the pursuit of results takes over any larger purpose or ideal. Winning one of the most important prizes for me was not a goal whatsoever, it is only a platform by which I could take on an overarching purpose, which at the end of the day, is to have the opportunity to share my love and beliefs in music, and hopefully to create experiences that people cannot have otherwise and ones that they will take with them for a long time.
A lot of people would say that I am ‘successful’; this isn’t something that matters to me, or something that should matter at all in the larger picture. Such successes on paper are never fulfilling nor make our lives fuller or happier. I must also note that such milestones usually occur only with a larger purpose or calling in the picture; of course we should celebrate the wins on the way, but deep down what we truly crave is the opportunity to open doors to create new paths in our lives. At the moment, I am endlessly grateful for the opportunity, and I am currently making the most out of this exciting ride!
My wish for Hong Kong and her people is that we would look more deeply within ourselves all the time, reflect upon everything that comes our way, and search for what is it that we really want for ourselves, what is it that we think will be of positive impact to this world. It is so easy to let the hamster wheel of life take over our every cell and our every thought, but I believe we must be purposeful and intentional in our path, so that we live a life filled with meaning, both externally and internally.
It doesn’t matter if we change the world, or make the life of one person a more fulfilling or comfortable existence – if we have brought joy or have been a positive force to anything or anyone, then we will have achieved something meaningful.
And the song I'd like to dedicate to our listeners is Places by The Blaze.
It's one of these songs that I listen to on planes and trains very often. And I love the feeling of movement and of journeying, also tinged with nostalgia, which is very much the feeling I get when I move between places and have fond memories of the place and people that I just left and I think the song captures that a lot and this is a feeling that I feel very often because of how much I travel and I think it's such a delicious feeling tinged with melancholy but also yearning for both the past and the future.
